Fibonacci Cabinet brings order to the world of home furnishings

A traditional Chinese medicine cabinet features numerous deep drawers, all of the same dimensions. It's a piece of furniture that has remained unchanged for centuries thanks to the form being perfectly suited to its function. By applying some mathematical magic to the core design of the Chinese medicine cabinet, design studio Utopia has created Fibonacci Cabinet.

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers which sees the preceding two numbers added together to make the succeeding number. So, beginning with 0 and 1, the first 12 numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and 89. The Fibonacci sequence is named after Leonardo of Pisa, who introduced the series to western mathematics in the 13th century, by which time it had already been a staple of Indian mathematics for centuries. The Fibonacci sequence appears in nature and also has practical applications attached to it.

The units that make up Fibonacci Cabinet can be placed together in whichever way the owner sees fit, with different pieces left out altogether, or combined to make more than one piece of furniture. However, there is only one way in which the units combine to make a solid piece of furniture that is both aesthetically and mathematically pleasing. This follows the Fibonacci spiral (very close to the Golden spiral), with the layout dictated by the imaginary drawing of a circular arc beginning with the smallest piece and hitting the corners of each successive piece in turn.

Fibonacci Cabinet is available to buy, but Utopia doesn't list the price or lead time on its website. Instead, interested parties are invited to contact the design studio for details. If the universe was sentient then the telephone number would surely begin 0112358, but alas only an email address is provided.

Dave is a technology journalist with a ravenous appetite for gadgets, gizmos, and gubbins. He's based in the U.K., and from his center of operations writes about all facets of modern and future technology. He has learned more in his five years writing for the Web than he did in 11 years at school, and with none of the boring subjects thrown in to the mix. All articles by Dave Parrack